Buying into celebrity lifestyle through fashion: an analysis of Cosmopolitan’ s‘ Hey, How do I Wear...’ column by Mischa Chang
Buying into celebrity lifestyle through fashion: an analysis of Cosmopolitan’ s‘ Hey, How do I Wear...’ column by Mischa Chang
In an age of consumerism, it is often hard to distinguish between the editorial content and advertisements in women’ s fashion magazines, especially as what have become known as‘ advertorials’( adverts that are styled as editorials) become more and more common. Celebrities are used as a way of selling both the magazine and the products featured throughout. Gauntlett( 2002, p. 187) describes women’ s magazines as“ all about the social construction of womanhood today,” and points out that critics argue that the fashion and beauty sections of magazines“ represent a notvery-subtle insistence that women of all ages must do their best, and go to considerable expense, to look as‘ glamourous as possible’.” This case study looks at the way in which the celebrity image is used as a representational figure of the“ woman’ s world” – the mythic world of the feminine that is created by the magazines( Winship, 1987, p. 7).
I will focus on the feature titled“ HEY, HOW DO I WEAR...”, which appears each month in the women’ s magazine Cosmopolitan.
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Four random articles have been selected from November 2015; April 2016; May 2016; June 2016.
The‘ HEY, HOW DO I WEAR …’ article is a recurring feature of Cosmopolitan, which uses the same layout each month, making the article easily recognisable to loyal readers. It is set out in a simple format, including small boxes of text with brief advice, making it quick and easy to read. This type of article is ideal for readers who are busy and need magazines that they are able to pick up and put down in their spare time( Gauntlett, 2002, p. 197). It is likely that
Cosmopolitan chooses to repeat this article each month using different styles because it is a great way for them to advertise items of clothing that are sent to them by the fashion houses and retailers. Due to the fact that the majority of magazine profits come from advertising( Gill, 2007, p. 181), it is important for them to establish a good relationship with these companies.
The most salient feature of this article is the use of celebrity images. By taking a celebrity photograph that